


Anything and Everything

by Impossibly_Izzy



Series: I Don't Wanna Let You Go [3]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Anxiety, Author knows nothing about police stuff, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, but it's cute i promise, but she does know about LOVE and that's what's important, except maybe with more blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 17:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20567783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Impossibly_Izzy/pseuds/Impossibly_Izzy
Summary: Jake gets called in as back-up on Charles' case, but it ends badly. Afterwards, they both need a bit of looking after.





	Anything and Everything

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally uploaded as part of my one-shot collection, but I decided I would be happier with it as a standalone story. You don't need to have read any of my other stories to understand it - except to know that Jake and Charles are married.  
TW for violence, blood, and some talking about death.

‘This is so lame,’ Jake complained, to nobody in particular. ‘Holt keeps giving me all the boring cases.’

The worst part was that his husband wasn’t there to sympathise with him – Charles and Rosa had gone out to work on some homicide case that sounded a lot more interesting than the B and E paperwork Jake was stuck with. The bullpen was quiet: no Amy to annoy since she had moved downstairs, no Gina to gossip with since she’d left. How was Jake supposed to distract himself from his paperwork?

As it turned out, though, that was not the worst part.

It wasn’t much later when Holt stepped out of his office and said, ‘I need you all outside in full tactical gear in one minute.’

There was an immediate scramble to get ready. As Jake pulled his bulletproof vest on, Holt came up to him looking purposeful.

‘What’s up, Captain?’ Jake said, distractedly.

‘Boyle and Diaz requested backup,’ Holt said. ‘The perp they were tracking led them to a much larger organised crime operation. This is an important case. But I believe they may be in…serious danger. There is a strong likelihood of the situation turning violent.’

Jake grabbed his windbreaker, trying to act like his insides weren’t twisting with panic. If anything happened to Charles – he couldn’t even think about that. Nothing was going to happen to Charles, he wouldn’t let it. ‘Serious danger. Coolcoolcoolcoolcool.’

‘I am concerned that you are going to behave irrationally,’ Holt said.

‘When have I ever behaved irrationally?’ Jake said.

‘This morning, when you purchased expensive coffee rather than consuming the communal coffee. Also-’

‘Okay, you didn’t actually have to answer that,’ Jake said. They could be there all day listing times Jake had been irrational – he knew that perfectly well.

‘I think it would be best if you stay behind,’ Holt said.

‘_What_?’ Jake said. ‘I’m not just gonna sit here while my husband’s in “serious danger”!’

The rest of the squad was filing out of the room, and Jake was impatient to go after them. He had to be there, had to _help_.

‘You are too emotionally invested,’ Holt said.

‘That’s why I need to _go_!’ Jake insisted. ‘_Sir_. If something happened to Kevin, you’d need to be there, right?’

Holt just looked at him for a moment and then said, ‘_Fine_.’

The moment Jake got out of the van, he was looking for Charles. He and Rosa were getting out of an unmarked car, and his eyes found Jake’s with a tight smile of _I’m glad you’re here._

‘I can’t believe you found a cool organised crime case without me!’ Jake said, when they got closer.

‘We called for backup so you wouldn’t be left out,’ Charles said.

‘Keep your voices down,’ Holt hissed at them.

The house was part of a run-down neighbourhood, half the windows boarded up and plants growing between the paving slabs of the tiny patch of front yard. The door was already busted open, hanging off its hinges.

They followed Holt through the door, the rest of the squad behind them. Four guys emerged from a doorway, and there was shouting and chaos as they stumbled over each other as they all tried to get away. Holt cornered one of them, but the other three ran.

Two of the guys went towards the back of the house, the third charging up the stairs. Jake ran after him, Charles just behind him, and they followed the perp up to the first floor. They caught up with him in a dishevelled bedroom, where he was tugging at the window screen in a vain attempt to open it.

‘It’s gonna stay shut,’ Jake said, levelling his gun at the perp’s head. ‘Like this _case_ is gonna be!’ It wasn’t his best line, he had to admit, but Charles shot him an approving grin anyway.

The perp looked at them, backed against the wall with both of their weapons pointed at him, all wild eyes and frantic energy. He pulled a knife out from under his jacket. ‘Stay back!’ he yelled, wildly brandishing the knife at them.

‘Put down the knife,’ Charles said, his voice firm and steady.

The perp fumbled again for the window latch behind him, but it didn’t budge. He looked from Jake to Charles and back again, his eyes full of fear. He was a caged animal, and he was about to use his claws.

There was a flash of silver as he lunged at Jake. By the time Jake’s brain caught up with what was happening it was too late, and Charles had stepped in front of him. And then the knife was covered with blood, and the guy was shoving past him.

‘Ow.’ Charles’s hand was at his side, just underneath his bulletproof vest, and there was blood seeping between his fingers.

Nope nope nope. This couldn’t be happening. The whole reason Jake was there was to _stop_ something like this from happening.

Charles’ legs gave out but Jake caught him, helping him carefully to the ground until he was leaning against the wall. Jake didn’t know what was going on around them anymore, couldn’t think about anything except for the fact that this was _way too much blood._

‘Oh, fuck.’ Rosa’s voice. She hunkered down beside them. ‘We need an ambulance,’ she said into her walkie-talkie. ‘Boyle’s down. Stab wound.’

Jake put his hand over Charles’, trying to put pressure on the wound, trying to do something. _This wasn’t supposed to happen. _

‘Charles?’ Rosa said. She shoved her bundled-up sweater into Jake’s hand, and he pressed it to the cut in Charles’s side. ‘Talk to me. How are you doing?’

Charles let out a huff of breath. ‘It’s pretty sore.’ That made Jake laugh, but it turned into almost a sob. ‘_Ow_,’ Charles said. ‘What’s happening? Did the perp get away?’

‘Terry got him,’ Rosa said.

Charles closed his eyes, hissing with pain. ‘This really hurts. Oh my god. Oh my god.’

‘You’re gonna be okay,’ Jake said, trying to keep his voice steady. ‘Listen to me, you’re gonna be fine.’

‘I feel really bad,’ Charles mumbled. His eyes were screwed shut in pain, his face grey.

‘I know, sweetheart,’ Jake said, his voice cracking. ‘But you’re gonna be okay.’ He kissed Charles’ damp forehead, trying to comfort him, needing to touch him. His hand was slick with blood soaking through the sweater, and a red-brown stain was beginning to spread up the side of Charles’ beige shirt. And all Jake could think was that _it was not going to be fine_.

Jake was dizzy, like _he_ was the one who was losing blood. The worst-case scenario was playing out in his mind, and he felt sick with panic. Nope, nope, nope. That couldn’t happen – he couldn’t lose Charles. He had seen what life was like without Charles and he couldn’t go back to that.

‘Fuck, where’s the stupid ambulance?’ Rosa said. ‘He’s losing a lot of blood.’

‘_Jake_,’ Charles said.

‘I’m here.’ Jake kissed his husband’s face, and tried to act like the pain in his voice wasn’t killing him.

It felt like they were waiting forever; everything was sticky blood and Charles’ ragged breaths. But at last the paramedics were there. And then Jake was in the back of an ambulance, and they were moving swiftly around Charles and throwing back and forth all kinds of words Jake normally only heard on TV. They cut his shirt open to put a proper dressing on the stab wound, and Jake looked away and thought about how messed up it was that he was fine with crime scenes and corpses but got squeamish about injuries.

And someone was asking him questions, and Jake was surprising himself by remembering Charles’ blood type, and he was holding Charles’ hand and thinking that he was never going to let go of his husband ever again.

But then they were at the hospital, and someone was taking him away from Charles to ask him about their health insurance. Jake scrawled his signature across the paperwork, still dazed and panicked.

‘Your husband is in a stable condition,’ a nurse said. ‘No major organs hit. Why don’t you take a seat in the waiting room, and someone will come and get you when he’s okay for visitors.’

‘Yeah. Waiting room. Coolcoolcoolcool,’ Jake said.

When he got there, the rest of the squad looked anxiously up at him.

‘How is he?’ Gina said. When did Gina get there?

‘Uh.’ Jake struggled to remember all the things people had been saying to him. ‘They said he’s in a stable condition.’

None of this was supposed to happen. Jake had _been_ _there_ – he was supposed to stop this from happening. That was his _job_. If he couldn’t stop his husband from getting hurt, how could he help _anyone_?

‘That’s good,’ Amy said, pulling Jake into a hug. His hands went limply to her back and he just stood there, letting her hold him for a moment. ‘Let’s get this off, okay?’ she said, tapping the bulletproof vest he was still wearing.

‘What?’ he said. ‘Oh. Yeah.’

She helped him out of it. Underneath, his hoodie and shirt and jeans were stained blotchily with blood. Jake went into the bathroom, washed the dried crusts of blood from his hands and wiped the tear tracks from his face.

Charles had taken that knife for him. Whatever happened to him now, it was all because some guy was trying to stab Jake, and Charles tried to stop him. Because Charles thought that his life was less important than Jake’s was, which was obviously, irrevocably wrong.

_We’re supposed to die on the force together, _he had said to Charles once. A thousand years ago, when he was talking about moving to Canada with Vivian. _Me in an explosion and you committing suicide at my funeral out of respect._

Why had he said that? It wasn’t funny. _This_ wasn’t funny: standing in an over-lit hospital restroom wearing clothes covered with his husband’s blood.

_Please don’t let it end like this, _he thought.

He leant against the tiled wall, tried to breathe, tried not to let the panic devour him. _Stable condition_, he reminded himself. _No major organs hit_. Charles wasn’t going to die. He had lost a lot of blood, but had got help in time. Stable condition.

But, _what if-_

The door opened, and Holt was there.

‘Sir,’ Jake said, bleakly.

‘I apologise for asking you not to come,’ Holt said.

That felt like a long, long time ago now. ‘It’s fine,’ Jake said.

‘No,’ said Holt. ‘Diaz told me what happened. I believe it is a good thing that Boyle had you there with him.’

And then Holt hugged him. It was stiff and awkward, and for some reason it made Jake want to start crying again.

‘Normally this would make me so happy,’ Jake said. ‘But right now I’m just – I don’t know. You’re gonna get blood on you.’

‘That is a risk I am willing to take,’ Holt said.

Jake hugged him properly and tried to be comforted by it. It didn’t really work, but he appreciated Holt trying. They walked back to the waiting room together, and Jake moved deliberately slowly, not ready to see his friends again.

‘What if he dies?’ he blurted out.

‘The doctors have assured us that he is in a stable condition,’ Holt said. ‘In all likelihood, he will make a full recovery.’

‘Right,’ said Jake. He wouldn’t fully believe it until he saw Charles again. ‘But what if-?’

There was a moment of silence, before Holt said, ‘Then the squad and I will be there for you, Jake.’

Jake was sitting with his friends – his family. Everyone in the house had been taken into custody, including the original perps that Charles and Rosa had been tracking, and, most importantly, the man who had stabbed Charles.

‘Detective Peralta?’ a nurse said.

He looked up. ‘Yes?’

‘Your husband is ready for visitors now, if you would like to come with me.’

Jake shot to his feet, and glanced back at the rest of the squad.

‘Go,’ said Gina. ‘We’ll see him when we can, boo.’

So Jake followed the nurse out of the room, down one corridor after another. She was talking to him about all sorts of things that he should probably have been taking in, but all he could think about was seeing Charles. By the time they got to his room, Jake was shaking with nerves. He took a moment to steady himself before stepping through the door.

Charles still looked too pale, too weak. He had an oxygen tube across his face, and there were all sorts of wires and tubes connected to him. But seeing him when he wasn’t covered in his own blood – seeing him at all – was a relief.

‘_Heyyy_,’ Jake said, forcing a grin onto his face. ‘How are you doing, babe?’

‘Jakey?’ Charles said, blearily.

‘Yep.’ Jake sank carefully onto the side of the bed, taking one of Charles’ hands in his own. ‘I’m right here.’

‘What happened?’ Charles said. ‘My brain feels like… souffle.’

Jake laughed weakly. ‘Yeah, they’ve got you on some pretty serious pain meds.’

‘Thank you for looking after me,’ Charles slurred.

‘Oh, _babe_,’ Jake said, his voice cracking. He kissed the side of Charles’ face. ‘I’ll always look after you.’

It was a few days later, and Charles had finally been able to leave the hospital. They had gone to bed early, content to spend the rest of the evening wrapped in the warmth of each other.

‘Holt hugged me,’ Jake said out of nowhere, the memory only just coming back to him.

‘What?’ Charles said, excited fingers digging into Jake’s arm. ‘When? Oh my god, this is huge! Why didn’t you tell me?’

Jake laughed. ‘It was when you were in the hospital. I was… kind of freaking out.’

‘Oh, Jakey,’ Charles said. ‘I hate that you were so worried.’

‘I think you got the worse end of the deal,’ Jake pointed out. He had seen all the stitches, biting his lip and trying not to freak out as he re-bandaged the wound.

‘I know,’ said Charles, petting Jake’s hair. ‘But I would have panicked so much if it had been you. I’m sorry you had to go through that.’

‘I just kept thinking… I should have stopped it,’ Jake said. He propped himself up on his elbow, trailed his fingertips over Charles’ shoulder. ‘The whole point of me being there was as _backup_ – I was supposed to stop you getting hurt. And I _failed_. I let you take that knife for me.’

‘You didn’t _let_ me do anything,’ Charles said. ‘I would have done that for anyone in the squad, you know that. It’s not your fault I got hurt.’

‘But it kinda _is_,’ Jake insisted.

‘That’s not true,’ Charles said. ‘It’s the guy who stabbed me’s fault.’

‘But-’

‘Listen to me,’ Charles said, firmly. ‘This kind of thing happens – it’s part of our job. How many times have we both been injured while we’ve been on the force?’

‘Barely any,’ Jake said. ‘Except that time you got shot. And that time _I_ got shot. And when I got hit by a car. And that time-’

‘It happens _all the time_.’

‘But what if this had been the time when it was really _bad_?’ Jake said. ‘What if… fuck, I don’t know! I just love you so much, and I’m so scared of something happening to you!’

‘I know,’ Charles said, his voice cracking slightly. ‘I feel like that too.’

‘Damn our stupid cool, dangerous jobs!’ Jake said, in a half-hearted attempt at levity.

Because Charles was right – the danger was part of their job. It was part of what made it so exciting, part of what had drawn Jake to it in the first place. He just hadn’t anticipated having so much emotional investment in someone in the same position as him – he hadn’t expected to have so much to lose.

And even though this time hadn’t been so bad, what about next time? What about the next knife, the next bullet, the next Jimmy Figgis or Seamus Murphy or Melanie Hawkins? He and Charles had been pulled apart too many times already, and he couldn’t bear the idea of it happening again. He had spent so long swimming in fear, and right now he was drowning in it.

He pressed his face into Charles’ shoulder, settling back into the cuddle. Charles’ fingers roamed across his scalp. ‘I just wanted to do something to help.’

‘You did the most important thing,’ Charles said. ‘You were there to look after me.’

Jake closed his eyes, held his husband as tight as he could without hurting him. Tried to focus on what he had now, instead of all the ways he could lose it. Charles rubbed a soothing hand over his back, and eventually Jake’s panic began to subside as he lost himself in the softness and warmth of Charles’ body against his own.

‘I wish I could have done more, though,’ he said.

Charles kissed him. ‘You do everything.’


End file.
